Guide:

Where To Go For The After Work Drink

Congratulations, you've officially succeeded in making a plan for a one-on-
one, after work drink. Let me guess. An old coworker? A high school friend you
ran into at Whole Foods? Someone who has the same job as you at another
company about whom your old coworker or high school friend has said, "You guys should meet!"

Well, now you have to meet. Most likely, you'll want that to be somewhere
relatively convenient to many Manhattan workplaces, where you can actually get a table and won't have to stand awkwardly against a wall holding your coat. Here are some places that fit those criteria, as well as some more specific ones. Stuck in midtown? We got you.

The Spots

Perfect For: When You're Not Sure If It's Drinks Or Coffee || It's a coffee shop AND a wine bar. Perfect for when someone (usually a relative stranger asking for career advice, an ex, or an old boss who you never really socialized over alcohol with) asks you to meet for coffee at 6:30 p.m., and you hope it just turns into drinks.

Perfect For: Being Stuck Near Times Square || If you a) really can't escape Midtown, b) want to make a reservation (you fancy), and c) want to enjoy classy cocktails in a classy environment, Latern's Keep in the Iroquois Hotel is your spot.

Perfect For: Swanky Underground Vibes Without Overdoing It || The Ship, located between Nolita and Chinatown, is designed like – you guessed it – a ship, but think more high-ceilinged cargo than Nantucket sail boat vibes. Great cocktails, nice bartenders, and it's spacious enough to not ever feel too crowded.

Perfect For: Breaking The Boring Cocktail Grind || How many jalapeno margaritas and negronis can a person have?! Time for a change. Decibel is a little underground sake bar on 9th Street that's been around forever and has cave-like walls covered in graffiti. Share a bottle of sake, and pretend you're in Japan...or at least New York in a different decade.

Perfect For: Silicon Alley Slickers || It's increasingly hard to find a bar in Flatiron that isn't hosting an ad tech company's networking happy hour. The somewhat Southern-inspired Bo's, on 24th Street, has a great and spacious bar downstairs, as well as a smaller one and a restaurant upstairs.

Perfect For: Lots Of Vodka/Willing To Let It Get Weird || Anyway Cafe is an old, arty Russian bar in the East Village where you can share a flight of infused vodkas for $18. It's an incredibly fun place to drink and hang out for hours, but probably don't bring your old boss or new intern here, unless they really like horseradish vodka.